In the eighteenth century, the debate about differences between white people and people of colour was in full swing. For instance, there were white scientists who believed that people of colour must have black blood, or black brains. Moreover, many of these theories were used to justify slavery.

The anatomist Petrus Camper thought otherwise. During his stay in Groningen, he performed public dissections on the bodies of both white and black, to prove that there were no fundamental differences. He would have been shocked had he known that a hundred years later his ideas were being misused to spread racial theories.

Camper's speech was printed in 1772 and can be read here.

Petrus Camper's collection is managed by the University Museum Groningen. An exhibition on Petrus Camper is on display there until 21 September 2025. More literature can be found in the show notes.

This episode was written and researched by Christien Boomsma. Sound and editing is done by Rob van der Wal. Voice-over is done by Tom Wilcox.

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Want to read more about Petrus Camper? Check out:

Berkel, K. van, red. Petrus Camper in Context : Wetenschap, Kunst en Samenleving in de Achttiende-eeuwse Nederlandse Republiek. Verloren, 2015.

van Berkel, Klaas, en Ramakers, Bart. Smaakvol en vruchtbaar gelezen worden: Petrus Camper als publiekswetenschapper. Uitgeverij Verloren, 2015, https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5b028306-a65d-4d91-af84-c29b50a3017e.

Bancel, Nicolas, e.a., redactie. The Invention of Race : Scientific and Popular Representations. Routledge, 2014, http://site.ebrary.com/id/10866340.

Meijer, Miriam Claude. Ras en esthetiek in de antropologie van Petrus Camper (1722-1789). Rodopi, 1999.

Schuller tot Peursum-Meijer, J., en W. R. H. Koops. Petrus Camper (1722-1789) : Onderzoeker van de Natuur. Universiteitsmuseum Groningen, 1989.

Audio is coming from Envato and Pixabay